Elections may be cancelled in 2023 due to insecurity – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says that violence in different parts of the country makes it very likely that this year’s general elections will not happen.

Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, the Chairman of the Board of Electoral Institute (BEI), who is also the Chairman of INEC, issued the warning on Monday in Abuja at the Validation of Election Security Training Resources.

“We all recognise that election security is essential to the strengthening of democracy by creating an environment that allows for the holding of free, fair, credible, and inclusive elections.”

“As a result, the commission is taking no chances when making preparations for the 2023 general elections by guaranteeing that intense and thorough security is given for election officials, materials, and processes.”

“Given the current security issues around the nation and the fact that National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members make up the majority of the polling unit election officials, this is particularly important to the commission.”

Also, if the insecurity isn’t closely watched and taken care of, it could lead to the cancellation or postponement of elections in enough places to stop the results from being announced and cause a constitutional crisis.

“This must not and will not be permitted to happen.

Consequently, Yakubu stated, “Security personnel in particular and all election officials in general must be security conscious, sensitive to strange activity in their surroundings, and properly ready to cope with any challenge at all times.”

In order to achieve this, he claims that the Chairman of INEC and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Mohammed Babagana Monguno (retired), have jointly promised the public that favourable conditions will be created for the successful holding of the general election in 2023.

The passage of the Electoral Act 2022, which spurred the review of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Conduct of Elections 2022, resulted in the creation of a new Electoral Legal Framework that will guide 2023, he added.

Sections 47(2), 60(1, 2, and 5), 62(1), 64(4a and 4b), and 64(5) of the Electoral Act of 2022, which give INEC the authority to employ any technological equipment to communicate or transfer election results electronically, are particularly illuminating in this regard, the speaker continued.

By using the Bimodal Verification and Accreditation System (BVAS) to do continuous verification, accreditation, and voting at the polling units and by promising to upload real-time polling unit-level results to the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) Portal using the same BVAS, the Commission felt more confident.

To secure voters, election workers, materials, equipment, the electoral processes, the general public, and infrastructure, these commitments necessitate the use of novel security deployments and techniques.

The correctness, openness, and credibility of the results collation process have improved, which ensures the procedure’s legitimacy. These cutting-edge technologies and methods also reduce human errors and delays in the process.

“They were put to the test during the June 18 and July 16 governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun, respectively.

The deployment of the BVAS and IReV during the 2023 General Elections has been pledged to the nation on numerous occasions by the Hon. Chairman of INEC.

According to reports on the behaviour of security personnel during the commission’s elections, in particular the stand-alone governorship elections in the states of Ekiti and Osun, there has been a progressive and commendable improvement in their attitude toward electoral training and professionalism during election duties.

Seray Jah, the country director for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), stated in his message of goodwill that the key to conducting peaceful elections is to train the security personnel who would be used during the election.

“Managing security concerns throughout the election campaign is a challenging task for INEC, which, along with Nigerian security agencies, is responsible for avoiding, minimising, and resolving electoral violence.”

“In order to accomplish this effectively, election-related security officers would need to get proper training on their duties.”

The opportunity to validate the high-quality training materials created for the security personnel as they get ready to deploy for the general elections in 2023 is presented by the validation workshop with important stakeholders in election security, Jay stated.

He said that IFES will continue to work with INEC and its members to build a democracy in Nigeria that will last.

“INEC may count on our readiness to continue cooperating with the commission in fulfilling its purpose of functioning as an independent and effective election management body committed to holding free, fair, and credible elections for lasting democracy in Nigeria,” the official added.

The validation exercise is consistent with INEC’s practise of reviewing training manuals and resources in accordance with the 2022 Guidelines and Regulations for the Conduct of Elections and the ICCES report on Election Security, according to Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris, director general of the Electoral Institute (TEI), who made the statement earlier.

He also highlighted the materials that would be validated at the workshop, including the Electoral Security Personnel (ESP) Training Manual, the Electoral Security Personnel (ESP) Training Facilitators Guide, the Electoral Security (ESP) Handbook, and the Basic Security in Election Duty (BaSED) Handbook.

“I want to stress how important it is for security staff to have the right training in order to keep the election environment safe so that elections can be free, fair, credible, and open to everyone.

Idris stated that another goal of the course was to boost the security of the electoral environment’s professionalism.